成人高等教育英语教材第三册10

UNIT 10 Do They Save Time or Waste Time?

Integrated Skills Development

Passage Overload¹: More Time Is Less Time

So you think you have some of the good things in life. You've got a video tape recorder and a device that answers the phone for you. And there's a gadget² that turns off the lights when you're out. How about the electric knife, the coffee maker³, the ice maker?
Feel good about having all that stuff? Or do you wonder whether the gadgets⁴ are running you instead of you them?
Americans apparently⁵ feel more hurried than ever these days. Part of the reason is trying to keep up with the demands on their time to purchase, store, service, repair, replace, and protect all those "time saving" machines. Add to them the problems of the extra car and the bigger house. And there's the RV parked on the side lawn. "Americans are eating up their leisure time by overloading⁶ themselves with all kinds of gadgets..." So says one expert in marketing⁷.
The downfall of lots of homes is trying to keep up with all the things that go wrong. There's the time spent to call repair people. Next we must wait for them to show up. Then there's the high hourly rates. These may force many people into poor do-it-yourself jobs. And costly⁸ tools often save little time because of the small scale of home repairs.
Likewise, "labor-saving" appliances may lighten the house-work. But they save little time. Looking for the right electric knife or other new gadget and getting it ready for use often can take more time than doing the job by hand. Studies show we spend even more time on laundry than our grandparents did. That's because we have more clothes and wash them more often. Vacuum cleaners have raised standards of cleanliness. But they tempt⁹ people to spend more time than with a broom or dust rag.
Cars are another time gobbler. One expert says that tires and batteries last longer than they used to. But U.S. cars are more prone¹⁰ to break down than they were. Plus, there are more gadgets on them to go wrong. The growing complexity¹¹ of the car means most owners can no longer play with a screwdriver¹² and wrench¹³ under the hood¹⁴ to fix things themselves.
Another problem we face more and more is dealing¹⁵ with computers in place of people. Impersonal¹⁶, cold, and error-prone machines are replacing clerks. So to fix errors in bills and other problems with a product or service often is a slow and maddening process.
The number of video games and other free time objects grows. And the pressure of choice joins in. Just to choose a free time activity from all the options taxes many people. And as people crowd their lives with things that eat up too much of their time, they come to feel that time is short. They feel they are in danger of wasting it.
In the end, then, the possessions we consume end up consuming us.

New Words and Expressions

add
V. 加，增加

apparently
ad. 表面上；明显地

appliance
n. 用具，器具，器械

battery
n. 电瓶，电池

broom
n. 扫帚

cleanliness
n. 清洁

complexity
n. 复杂（性）

consume
v. 消费，消耗

costly
a. 昂贵的；价值高的

device
n. 器械，装置

downfall
n. 衰败（的原因）

dust
n. 灰尘，垃圾，灰烬

error
n. 错误，谬误；差错

error-prone
a. 容易犯错误的

force
v. 强迫，迫使

gadget
n. 小工具，小机械

gobbler
n. 狼吞虎咽的人，并吞者

grandparent
n. 祖父或祖母

hood
n. 汽车发动机罩

hourly
a. 每小时的，以小时计的

impersonal
a. 客观的，和个人无关的

labor-saving
a. 节省劳力的；减轻劳动强度的

laundry
n. 洗衣；洗衣店

lawn
n. 草地，草坪

leisure
n. 空闲时间；悠闲

lighten
v. 减轻；照亮

likewise
ad. 同样地；也，又

madden
v. 使发狂，激怒

maker
n. 制造者

object
n. 物，物体；目的

option
n. 选择，取舍

overload
v. （使）超载

possession
n. 所有物；财产

pressure
n. 压力

prone
a. 易于…的

rag
n. 抹布；破布

recorder
n. 录音机

replace
v. 替换，更换

scale
n. 规模

screwdriver
n. 螺丝起子

stuff
n. 材料
v. 装，填，塞

tape
n. 带，磁带，录像带

tax
v. 耗费，使负重担
n. 税

tire
n. 轮胎
v. 疲劳，累；厌倦

vacuum
n. 真空

video
a. 录像的
n. 录像机

wrench
v. 拧，扭伤
n. 拧

show up
出现

break down
出毛病，损坏；垮掉，（健康）变得衰弱

go wrong
出毛病

in (the) place of
代替

Merry Learning

Does the Dog Know the Proverb?

One day a Frenchman went to visit his English friend. When he came up to his house, a big dog ran out and began to bark at him.
The Frenchman was frightened and stopped. At that moment the Englishman came out and saw his friend. "Don't be afraid!" he said. "Don't you know the proverb 'Barking dogs don't bite?'" "Oh, yes," was the quick answer. "I know the proverb, and you know the proverb, the dog... Does the dog know the proverb?"

1 overload   

vt.使超载；n.超载

参考例句：

• Don't overload the boat or it will sink.别超载，否则船会沉。
• Large meals overload the digestive system.吃得太饱会加重消化系统的负担。

2 gadget   

n.小巧的机械，精巧的装置，小玩意儿

参考例句：

• This gadget isn't much good.这小机械没什么用处。
• She has invented a nifty little gadget for undoing stubborn nuts and bolts.她发明了一种灵巧的小工具用来松开紧固的螺母和螺栓。

3 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

4 gadgets   

n.小机械，小器具（ gadget的名词复数 ）

参考例句：

• Certainly. The idea is not to have a house full of gadgets. 当然。设想是房屋不再充满小配件。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• This meant more gadgets and more experiments. 这意味着要设计出更多的装置，做更多的实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

5 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

6 overloading   

过载，超载，过负载

参考例句：

• Enables multiple users to search the site without overloading the server. 使多个用户搜索网站，而无需超载的服务器上。
• The driver got stripped down again for overloading his trunk. 那位卡车司机因为超载又受到责备。

7 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

8 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

9 tempt   

vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣

参考例句：

• Nothing could tempt him to such a course of action.什么都不能诱使他去那样做。
• The fact that she had become wealthy did not tempt her to alter her frugal way of life.她有钱了，可这丝毫没能让她改变节俭的生活习惯。

10 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

11 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

12 screwdriver   

n.螺丝起子；伏特加橙汁鸡尾酒

参考例句：

• He took a screwdriver and teased out the remaining screws.他拿出螺丝刀把其余的螺丝卸了下来。
• The electric drill can also be used as a screwdriver.这把电钻也可用作螺丝刀。

13 wrench   

v.猛拧；挣脱；使扭伤；n.扳手；痛苦，难受

参考例句：

• He gave a wrench to his ankle when he jumped down.他跳下去的时候扭伤了足踝。
• It was a wrench to leave the old home.离开这个老家非常痛苦。

14 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

15 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

16 impersonal   

adj.无个人感情的，与个人无关的，非人称的

参考例句：

• Even his children found him strangely distant and impersonal.他的孩子们也认为他跟其他人很疏远，没有人情味。
• His manner seemed rather stiff and impersonal.他的态度似乎很生硬冷淡。